BEIRUT (Reuters) - It felt like an eternity rather than just a few minutes as haute couture fashion designer Elie Saab scrambled to make sure his 200 staff members, including his son, were safe when this month's massive explosion shook Beirut. Like many Lebanese on Aug. 4 when chemicals at the port detonated, the 56-year-old felt the blast was on his doorstep. I said okay, he is wounded, but it was okay, it was just cuts to his head and arms," Saab said. The blast destroyed the shops and ateliers of at least two other designers, Zuhair Murad and Rabih Keyrouz, himself badly injured. It does not become us as Lebanese to give up," Saab said.

Source: The Star August 18, 2020 09:45 UTC